New Delhi, Dec. 3 -- Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday sought to firmly quell rising privacy concerns surrounding the government's Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app, insisting in Parliament that the platform cannot be used for surveillance of citizens and poses no threat to user data. His remarks come amid political backlash over a recent directive mandating smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the app on all new and existing devices.

The controversy began after a 28 November government order required all mobile phone makers to preload the state-run Sanchar Saathi safety app on every handset sold in India. The directive also mandated pushing the app to existing devices via software updates and ensuring tha...